Hoist the Jolly Roger: The Freest of Them All
by Lordy2207
Summary: A single flap of of a seagull's wing can alter the weather forever, a single pebble can cause countless ripples in the ocean. Watch as one such pebble changes the world forever. Watch as this Luffy hoists the Jolly Roger and turns this world upside down. Different Devil Fruit, Slightly Diff Crew and Stronger, Darker Luffy
1. Chapter 1 A Journey starts

**Hoist the Jolly Roger: The Freest of Them All**

* * *

 _ **I Don't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

 _Wealth, Fame, Power_

 _The man who had achieved everything in life, like none before him, was the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The few words he spoke at his execution drove countless people to seas._

" _My treasure? If you want it, you can have it.  
Seek it out! I left everything I gathered in my life in One Piece!"_

 _Men, bound for the Grand Line, to chase after their dreams._

 _The world is about to witness the Great Age of Piracy._

* * *

A ship was gliding calmly through the deep blue of the ocean, a soft breeze carrying its passengers peacefully to their destination while they enjoyed the music and dancing around them.

A young man, clearly a noble by his appearance and manners, was twirling a young orange-haired lady around the dance floor, enjoying the sound of her bell like laughter. A coquettish smirk from her made him nearly burst with pride and anticipation as the young beauty lead him out of the ballroom.

His one free hand had trouble open his compartment door as his other was squeezed between the valley of her heavenly bosom as the girl, for she could not be much older than seventeen maybe eighteen, clung to his arm; once the door finally closed behind them the dark-haired noble suddenly found his back pressed against the wall and his breath hitched as his green eyes stared into a pair of light brown ones, a shiver ran down his spine as her hot breath caressed his skin and her sinful red lips slowly drew closer until they finally after a few torturous seconds touched his.

The man wrapped his arms around the girl drawing her even closer as their bodies mashed together and their lips met in a passionate kiss, slowly his hands wandered lower and lower until they were just about to grab her tight butt, when suddenly the girl pushed herself away from him.

"Tststs, let's not be hasty! We have only just begun!" The orangenette teased before she held out a simple black blindfold, sending goose bumps down the noble's spine; "What do you say, shall we play a little game?"

Darkness surrounded the noble as carefully struggled against the silk restraints that bound his arms to the poles of his bed, enjoyed the feel of the silk against his skin as well as the hot lips that softly caressed the skin that was exposed by the nimble fingers that slowly unbuttoned his dress shirt.

He let out a groan of disappointment as the soft caresses of his skin abruptly stopped just as the girl reached his belt, his raging hardness pressing painfully against his trousers, he felt her body move on the bed and shivered as suddenly her breath caressed his right ear and he heard her whisper a throaty sorry into his ear.

Opening his mouth in surprise he felt a piece of cloth forcefully rammed into his mouth before once more a band was fastened behind his back, but this time it had none of the erotic excitement o the first time and this time he started to struggle in earnest but his bindings, that at first excited him so, would not budge.

The girl sighted as she got up and looked at the struggling young noble, how she hated it, as she forcefully swept over her lips hoping to rid herself off the fact that her lips touched him, she hated this part, she truly did; not because the noble didn't deserve it, no she had done her research and knew he deserved much worse than she could possibly do to him.

It had not taken much digging to learn of the young female slaves that disgusting pig kept for his enjoyment, just thinking about it made her shiver in disgust and her hand to reach toward her hidden dagger, but she knew that she couldn't use it, to rob him was one thing, the marines wouldn't look too deeply into a single theft, but far too many people have seen her leave the party with him for her to get away with murder, especially not the murder of a noble, the marines would hunt her to the end of the world for that; still she couldn't help but imagine slitting his throat as white hot fury cursed through her veins, she hated slavers, she detested them with every fibre of her body.

Once more she whipped her mouth clean of imaginary filth as she shivered in disgust of the memory of her lips touching his, of her lips on his skin, it made her feel disgusting and dirty, but it was the price she had to pay for those she held dear; she knew there was no other way, she was not strong enough to fight the guards that protected this ship, much less a pirate and his crew, so all she could do was to use her womanly whiles no matter how much she detested to do so.

Finally tearing herself from her dark thoughts she ignored the still struggling man she searched the room for everything of value in the room, quickly stuffing it into her ever growing bag, intent to quickly be rid of the man, this ship and everything that reminded her of it.

Just as she was about to open the door a shrill siren rang out, pulling the ships passengers out of their cosiness and making the girl's heart sink, had they found out about her?

* * *

A single man was lazily enjoying the sun on his watch out high above the ballroom and the young thief from the crow's nest when suddenly a ship appeared from behind a nearby island. The ship alone could have been considered funny looking considering its bright pink colour and the swan like head with bright red heart shaped eyes, had it not been for the black flag proudly flapping on top of the main mast.

The watch out trembled in fear as he saw the white skull and the red heart, there was no doubt, this was the Jolly Roger of the Alvida Pirates, Scourges of the East Blue.

* * *

A young pink haired boy trembled and closed his eyes and made himself as small as possible as he was nearly squashed by the bloodthirsty pirates as they desperately tried to board the cruise ship first while there captain pushed them forward, more afraid of her terrible fury than whatever awaited them on the ship before them.

Suddenly the squashing stopped and he dared to open his eyes again only to pale in fear as he looked into the terrifying face of his captain.

"Coby you little coward get going!" Iron Mace Alvida shouted in fury, before she flung the boy onto the cruise ship; "And don't you dare return empty handed!"

Slowly Coby crept downstairs, carefully dodging his bloodthirsty crewmates, and pushed open one of the doors, only to sight in relive as he saw nobody there. Hastily closing the door behind him he allowed himself to relax as he looked around the room, it appeared to be a storage room of some kind, wooden boxes and barrels everywhere and there right in the middle was one of the biggest barrels the young boy had ever seen.

He smiled in relieve, that would satisfy Alvida he was sure of it, and he was just about to carry it to her when a voice startled him.

"Mymymy what have you found here Coby?" A rough sounding voice taunted and Coby turned around to stare into the faces of thre; "Such a big barrel must contain quite some booze, well what do you say little pal, what about sharing some with us?"

Terror gripped Coby's heart; "But this bottle is for Alvida-senchō, you know what she would do to us if she found out!"

"Well how should she find out?" The apparent leader of the three pirates bullied; "You wouldn't tell on us would you, Coby-kun?"

"No" The terrified boy whispered.

"Terrific!" The spokesman taunted; "I'm going to smash it open right now."

But just as his fist was about to hit the barrel wood splintered and the pirate was sent flying backwards where he impacted with the wall and slumped down onto the ground unconscious.

The other members of the Alvida Pirates gawked at the sight that greeted them, there right in the middle of the remain of the barrel stood a man, a teen in fact considering his youthful appearance, he looked to be around seventeen with raven black hair, eyes as black as coal and a scar under his left one. His wore a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, black dress pants as well as an untucked white dress shirt its long sleeves rolled above his elbows and a pair of wooden flip flops, which strangely enough didn't ruin the look put rather rounded it up quite nicely.

A yawn escaped the strange boy as he stretched his arms wide.

"Wow what a wonderful nap!" Only rub the back of his head in confusion as he looked around and finally noticed that he was not alone; "Who are you guys?"

"Us!" The two pirates screamed angrily while they brandished their weapons; "Who the hell are you?"

"Me? I am Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet ya" Luffy said a big goofy smile splitting his face; "And what about your friend over there, I don't think it's very healthy to sleep like that."

"That's your fault!" They shouted and charged at him in their fury only for the teen to rub the back his head in confusion before he shrugged and in a surprising show of speed kicked both of his attackers back towards their still unconscious comrade.

Coby could only quack in surprise as two of the pirates that made his life hell grabbed their friend and fled as fast as they could.

"Weirdos" The raven haired teen shrugged before he sheepishly turned to the only one left in the room, making Coby sweat in fear; "Hey kid, you got any food?"

Luffy was happily munching on a whole barrel full of apples and was already halfway through them all when Coby finally gathered the courage to speak up. "Why are you so calm?"

"Heh?" Luffy turned his head in confusion; "Why shouldn't I be calm?"

"Those were Alvida Pirates, Scourges of the East Blue;" Coby shouted with a terrified expression his face; "and they will come back with friends and you'll be killed!"

"But I am hungry!" Luffy stated simply and with that he turned back to his barrel with apples, happily ignoring the desperate pleas of the young boy, who after a while realised that the strange teen was not even listening to him and sat down waiting for him to finish his meal, maybe then he would listen to him.

"Luffy-san is your name, right?" Coby tried once more and got a nod in return; "I am Coby. Tell me Luffy-san what were you doing in that barrel?"

"Well, that's a bit embarrassing you know!" Luffy admitted while he crossed his arms behind his head and grinned his goofy grin; "A whirlpool caught me by surprise and I had just enough time to put myself into a barrel before it sank my ship and now I am here, where am I by the way, is this a pirate ship?"

"Whirpool! You should be dead!" The pink haired boy shouted in disbelief; "And no, this is not a pirate ship, but it is a exclusive cruise ship that is being raided by the Alvida Pirates!"

"Meh, I don't die that easily, but Coby what are you doing here, you don't look like you belong on a cruise ship, are you a pirate?"

Luffy almost wished he had not asked that question as he saw the young boy lower is head in shame as tears started to spill from his eyes. "It is terrible Luffy-san, I don't want to be, but Alvida is forcing me!"

The teen looked at the now sobbing boy like he had just grown a second head and asked in confusion. "Then why don't you simply leave?"

"Leave? Impossible; no totally impossible. I can't, no!" Coby shouted in furious denial; "Alvida would kill me, it is simply impossible. Ever since I wandered on her ship in accident, believing it to be a fishing boat, I belong to her, her cabin boy until she grows tired of me or I die; that is my fate!"

Coby was interrupted in his tirade as a fist bopped on his head.

"You are a coward. I don't like you!" Luffy exclaimed with a grin only for Coby to once more break out into hysteric sobs.

* * *

The pirate known as Iron Mace Alvida stood on deck of the cruise ship and watched with a highly satisfied expression as her man looted the place for everything of worth, carelessly stepping over the corpses of those who died in the short but bloody battle over control she stepped closer and closer to the ever growing pile of gold, valuables and cash, when something caught her attention.

A few of her man were dragging a struggling orange haired girl on deck, even Alvida had to admit that the girl was indeed quite pretty, not as beautiful as her of course but still quite pretty.

"Hey Sencho look at what we found, a little birdie trying to flee in one of the escape boats and look what she had with her!" Her first mate gloated as he emptied the large sack he was holding, the gold glittered in the sunlight as one by one the treasure landed on the wooden planks of the ship with a dull thud; "What do you say Sencho, quite the haul, I think the men deserve a reward!"

With a lecherous grin that made the girl terrified. "I think the girl should do it quite nicely. Yes I think she would please them immensely."

Alvida looked thoughtful for moment as her men looked hopefully at her, she could clearly see the desire they had for the girl and what did it matter to her what they did to the little slag that dared to nearly rival her in beauty, but just as she was about to give her answer, two more of her men stumbled on deck, dragging a third with them.

"Alvida-sencho, Alvida-sencho it is terrible, there is a monster on the ship. He is terrifying strong!" The two conscious pirates shouted in fear; "He might even be that Pirate Hunter Zoro!"

"What! The Pirate Hunter Zoro is here, men find him!" The woman shouted in anger and fear, before she caught of the still struggling girl and a cruel smirk appeared on her face as she thought how to properly motivate them; "And whoever brings him to me first, will get the first turn with our new entertainment tool here, what do you say who wants to break our new toy in?"

She could clearly see the excitement of her men as they all rushed of in order to find the bounty hunter, yes she thought they will find him, no doubt.

* * *

"So let me get that straight you dream of becoming a great Marine, but you ended up as the Cabin Boy of a pirate ship, shishishi you have rotten luck!" Luffy laughed at the boy's fate.

"Hey don't rub it in!" Coby shouted angrily; "I want to become a great Marine in order to catch bad pirates like Alvida."

"That's more like it Coby, become a great Marine" Luffy encouraged the excited boy; "and I will become the Pirate King!"

"Nani? You want to become a Pirate?" Coby shouted suddenly once more terrified; "And the King of Pirates of all things, but means you are after the One Piece!"

"Yep!" The black haired teen exclaimed with a grin.

"But that is impossible; to go after the One Piece means to enter the Grandline!" Coby shouted in disbelief at Luffy's carefree nod; "The Grandline is also known as the Pirate Graveyard, you will die! To be the Pirate King means to stand above all other Pirates in this Great Pirate Era it can't be done, impossible, you will just die!"

Once more Luffy bopped Coby one the head; "Don't be a coward Coby, to be the Pirate King is my dream and should I die while pursuing my dream then so be it!"

Luffy didn't notice the stunned look on Coby's face as he stood up. "Well now that I am full I need to find a boat, you don't by any chance know where I could find one, do you?"

But before Coby could even answer the door was suddenly forced open and a dozen armed men stormed in.

"You! Alvida-sencho demands your presence on deck!" One of the men shouted, before he was attacked from the men behind him.

Coby and Luffy could only watch in confusion as the men fought among themselves, all they could make out was something about "She is mine" and "No, I will bring him to Alvida".

"Hey Coby what is going on?" The young Pirate questioned.

The wannabe Marine could only shrug in confusion at the odd behaviour of the Alvida Pirates causing Luffy to shrug in return and whistling made his way toward the exit, carelessly ignoring the fighting Pirates, Coby hot on his trail.

* * *

Alvida waited contently on the deck of her hijacked ship, all her men were down under deck looking for the pesky bounty hunter that dared to challenge her, leaving her and the girl alone. She couldn't help but scowl at the sight of said girl, her quiet sobs of despair the only sound on the ship as she cowered against the railing of the ship, her once beautiful dress ripped revealing much more of her body than she was comfortable with considering how she used her hands to protect herself from sight, her brown eyes wide in terror.

The Pirate Captain's gaze returned to door that led under deck as another sound could be heard beside the girls sobbing.

'Footsteps!' Alvida thought in satisfaction; 'It seems my men have done their job.'

Bright light flooded their senses as they finally entered the deck of the ship, it had taken them quite a while to reach it with Coby's constant panic attacks about being killed and the strange attacks of the Pirates, over and over had they attacked, only for them to fight among themselves every time allowing the two to pass undisturbed.

"COBY, it seems that you brought the Pirate Hunter to me!" Alvida shouted in joy, only to turn her head in surprise as she took in the sight of the teen that stood in front of her; "But that is not the Pirate Hunter Zoro! Boy who are you."

"Me?" Luffy questioned with his trademark goofy grin while pointing his right thumb at himself; "I'm Luffy and I am a Pirate, nice to meet ya!"

"COBY!" Alvida seethed in terrible fury; "How dare you bring a Pirate to me!"

"Alvida-sencho, please have mercy!" Coby begged, tear of fear running down his face.

"Coby tell me," Alvida asked with a sadistic smile on her face; "Who is the most beautiful woman in this ocean?"

"You Alv" Coby stuttered out, only to be interrupted by the confused Luffy, who looked at the woman in front of him in bewilderment. She was truly a whale of a woman, layer and layer of fat with two small legs that made Luffy wonder how they could carry the sheer weight of the woman and a freckled face behind fatty black curled hair that looked like somebody has thrust a whole loaf of bread horizontally into her mouth; "Coby, who is that hag?"

A tick mark appeared on her face as she raised her iron mace high above her body intent on clobbering the insolent fool into the ground, only for her mace to only shatter the wooden planks, where they had once stood.

Luffy jumped high above the walking whale with a grin still on his face, the struggling Coby safely tucked under his left arm, before he flung him towards the strange girl on deck that looked at him with tear stricken brown eyes in wonder.

His grin stretched even wider as he once more dodged an attack from the strange walking whale. He held his precious Straw-Hat tightly as he dodged and weaved through the increasingly more wild and furious attacks.

Iron Mace Alvida trembled in fury as that annoying brat kept dodging her attacks. "Stop dodging you coward and take it like a man!" She screamed at him.

"Why would I do that?" Luffy asked in confusion; "You would die!"

Alvida screamed in terrible fury and started to once more attack Luffy only to stop at the stumbling arrival of her crew.

"Where have you been you incompetent landsmen?" Alvida screamed at her men in fury; "I gave you one simple order, but you bitches are even too stupid to fulfil it!"

"But I am a merciful person!" The Pirate told her trembling crew; "Kill that bastard and all will be forgiven, hell I will even gift the girl to whoever manages to kill him!"

Motivated by both their fear of their captain as well as their lust for the girl, the pirates stormed at the teen, who still had his right hand on his yellow Straw-Hat, shadowing his face from view.

Luffy stood there motionlessly as the Pirates drew closer and closer as closer as the Captain's words played over and over through his mind and white hot fury cursed through his veins as their meaning became clear to him and just as they were about to hit him he raised his head revealing a terrifying face, his eyes still shadowed by his head and his mouth for once not scratched in his goofy grin but rather a deep scowl, he whispered one single word in a cold voice that sent shivers down every one's spine; " **Nagashi** **(Current)** "

As soon as that word left his lips, Luffy transformed as his flesh was overtook by blue electricity, transforming his body into a semi-transparent form of pure lightning with small bolts of lightning flashing around his body that rapidly grew in size, before the powerful currents sprang from his body and impacted the pirates, from one body to the next the lightning sprang, filling the world with the agonizing screams of the electrocuted pirates as the stench of burned flesh filled every one's senses, before one by one they fell, their bodies burned and blackened heaps of flesh.

The orangenette could only stare in wonder as her would be rapists fell one by one from the attack from the teen that could not be any older than her and a small satisfied smirk appeared on her face as she saw the horrified visage of disgusting woman that wanted to give her away like some kind of toy as if she was nothing more than a thing to be owned.

'Just like him.' She thought and for once a glimmer of hope appeared in her, maybe he could help her, before the spark of hope was ruthlessly crushed; 'No, he can't help me, nobody can help me; he is just too strong!'

Step by step Luffy came closer to the last member of the Alvida Pirates, their Captain herself, his fury still not sated.

Alvida crawled back frightened as she begged pitifully; "Please have mercy; please I beg you spare me!"

"Spare you?" The future Pirate King asked in all his electrifying glory; "Why should I spare you, you who has no honour, you who would condone the rape of an innocent girl, no there is no place in the world for people like you!"

"No!" Alvida wailed; "What kind of monster are you?"

Suddenly Luffy was in front of her, effortlessly lifting the enormous woman into air by the neck making her choke and struggle as his cold voice whispered; "I am the one who will become the Pirate King!"

And with that the world turned blue.

The smoking and blackened remains of Iron Mace Alvida, the Scourge of the East Blue, fell to the ground, dead before she could even scream.

* * *

The young woman held her hands in front of her eyes as she shielded herself from the intense light as she cowered against the railing, sobs of relieve escaped her, but still the words of the powerful teen haunted her.

'To become the Pirate King, he is a Pirate as well!' She thought terrified that the boy may even be worse than Alvida, he was a Pirate after all and a powerful one at that.

Her musings were interrupted when she suddenly felt something warm and soft fall on her shoulders and down her back, surprised she looked up only to stare into the warm and kind black eyes of the teen that had just rescued her, his goofy grin once more on his face as he held out his hand to help her up as he spoke; "Hey I am Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet ya!"

Blood shot into the girl's face as he slowly helped her stand and she couldn't help but look at his naked chest. At first he had appeared to her as tall but quite lanky, but now from up close she could clearly see his muscled stomach and his strong, broad chest, giving him a powerful appearance. At once she realised just what had landed on her shoulders and she couldn't help but snuggle into the shirt he had given her to protect her modesty, it made her feel safe and at once all her worries melted away and she spoke with a small grin of her own;

"Hey, I am Nami!"

* * *

 _ **And done!**_

 _ **I hope you liked the first Chapter of Hoist the Jolly Roger, my attempt at both a Logia Luffy and more realistic One Piece story.**_

 _ **My story will be a bit darker than the Manga since it will actually go in depth about the darker aspects of One Piece, since Slavery, Rape and Death are already implied or actually happen in the story.**_

 _ **But let me say that I in no way condone such things; slavery and rape especially are two of the worst crimes a human being is capable of and are not to be tolerated.**_

 _ **I hope I can update soon, maybe even this weekend, but I am a working man so have patience.**_


	2. Chapter 2 The First Mate

**Hoist the Jolly Roger: The Freest of Them All**

* * *

 ** _Thank you all for your reviews, they are greatly appreciated._**

 ** _As English is not my native language, I am grateful for every mistake you can point out to me._**

 ** _Lightningblade49: You will just have to wait and see, I have something planned for it already._**

 ** _Oh well who am I kidding, you will find out in this very chapter._**

 ** _Zaralann, Primorial Vortex and The Eternal Winter: I am especially thankful for your reviews. As three of my favourite One Piece authors your attention honours me and I am thankful for all advice and criticism you can over me._**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

 _Wealth, Fame, Power_

 _The man who had achieved everything in life, like none before him, was the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The few words he spoke at his execution drove countless people to seas._

 _"_ _My treasure? If you want it, you can have it.  
Seek it out! I left everything I gathered in my life in One Piece!"_

 _Men, bound for the Grand Line, to chase after their dreams._

 _The world is about to witness the Great Age of Piracy._

* * *

Luffy was sitting on the railing of the cruise ship his black hair freely blowing in the wind while was carelessly twirling his Straw-Hat on his right index finger. He looked down at the orange haired girl that had just finished bottoming up his shirt.

"Hey Nami! Why have you been on deck anyway?" Luffy questioned curiously,; "I mean Coby and I saw the others in the ballroom."

Nami gulped both at the recent memories the topic brought forth as well as the sensitive nature that led to her capture.

"Well they caught me while I was trying to escape with one of the escape pots and seeing my treasure they decided to bring me to their boss!" She explained, refraining from mentioning what else they planned to do, it was after all not the first time some Pirate crew tried to use her as entertainment, they were just the only one she had couldn't escape from.

"Treasure?" Luffy asked in confusion; "Are you some kind of treasure hunter?"

"No!" Nami muttered in embarrassment, dreading his reaction; "I am a navigator as well as a thief, a thief that steals only from rich people and pirates!"

"You steal from pirates, isn't that a bit dangerous?" Luffy asked in confusion, making Nami chuckle sheepishly.

"Hai!" Nami admitted; "But I have no choice, I need 100.000.000 Beli and I will do whatever I need to get it!"

"100.000.000 Beli whatever do you need that for?" The black haired boy asked, puzzled by the answer.

"That is none of your business!" Nami answered stubbornly, finally getting over the experiences of the day and slowly getting her confidence back.

"Shishishi okay, okay!" Luffy grinned; "Hey how about you join my crew, we'll find lots of treasure!"

"No!" Nami screamed, forming a big x with her arms; "I will not become a Pirate, they are evil!"

"Shishishi" Luffy only continued to laugh; "Don't compare me to them! They are not true Pirates!"

"A true Pirate?" The pink haired kid that Nami had learned was named Coby and was once the Cabin Boy slash slave of the Alvida Pirates questioned; "Luffy-san, what do you mean with true Pirate?"

"A true Pirate" Luffy explained for once wearing a serious expression instead of his normally goofy grin, which made his two listeners unconsciously lean forward as they listened intently to what he had to say; "is somebody who follows the path of the great Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, it is a man who strives to be the freest man on earth. A man that turns his back to the cruel, unjust and corrupt regime we call the World Government and wishes to life his life by his own rules, no matter the consequences!"

"To life by my own rules!" Nami whispered somewhat dreamily; "To be the freest of them all!"

"Join me Nami" Luffy asked her once more, looking at her with his serious expression; "and be free!"

"I can't!" Nami whispered; "Maybe when this is all over, but I need that money, I made a vow and until I full fill it, I will never be free!"

"How about a deal then!" Luffy conceded, he could tell that whatever she needed the money from was important to her and it would take time for her to open up to him; "I need a navigator and you need money, so how about an alliance you navigate me and I will share whatever treasure I make with you evenly."

Nami could hardly believe her luck, it sounded to be too good to be true, but one look in his honest black eyes and any doubt of his sincerity vanished. "Deal, but I will not participate in any crimes; I will not become a wanted criminal!"

After seeing Luffy's carefree nod she added one more demand; "And one more thing, you are strong, you will teach me how to fight."

At Luffy's confused expression, she explained; "I am weak, they were nothing more than thugs," She nodded at the charred remains of the Alvida Pirates; "but there was nothing I could do to protect myself. Never again, I will never I again feel so helpless and weak; I will become strong!"

Luffy nodded approvingly at the determined expression on his new Navigator's face.

"Deal!" He chuckled, making the girl beam in delight before in one elegant hop, she jumped over the railing of the cruise ship and onto Alvida's pirate ship and looking back at Luffy, she laughed; "Well what are you waiting for, we have some raiding to do!"

Luffy grinned and jumped after her.

"Hey guys, wait for me!" Coby shouted desperately, scared of being left behind.

* * *

The former Cabin Boy of the Alvida Pirates lead his two new friends deep into the entrails of the Pirate ship until they stood in front of an enormous iron door with six different locks.

"Oh man, why can't it ever be easy?" Nami moaned as she took out her lock picking tools and started with the first lock, only to be interrupted by Luffy's laughter; "Let me take care of that!"

And he plunged his arm right into the iron door, making his comrades scream in fright until they realised that his arm had once more transformed into blue lightning that was spreading on the iron door.

Heat unlike any they had ever felt before was emitted from the door as they watched in amazement as it slowly started to glow and melted away until only a puddle of molten iron was left that was slowly eat through the wood below.

"You idiot!" Nami screeched; "You can't melt iron on a ship, it will sink!"

Only to turn away in a huff when all she got in return was a sheepish grin and entered the now open vault, carefully stepping around the molten iron.

Her eyes glowed in Beli signs as she took in the gold around her and delved right in, looking for anything that was especially valuable and quickly threw it on a continually growing pile in the middle.

Interrupting her plundering she realised that Luffy was no longer moving, he simply stood there with an open chest in his hands, disbelieve written on his face as he peered on its contents. Curious she made her way towards him and sneakily glanced over his shoulder, only to be confused.

It was a fruit, a strange fruit maybe; it looked like a big peach in a deep red colour that looked incredibly smooth even though it was covered in swirls.

"What's so special about that fruit, Luffy?" Nami could no longer curb her curiosity as Luffy was still in some kind of shock.

Her words seemed to finally unfreeze Luffy as he whispered; "Akuma no Mi!"

"What?" Coby asked in confusion that was mirrored by the orangenette.

"This is an Akuma no Mi" Luffy explained in disbelieve; "or also known as a Devil Fruit!"

Nami gasped in surprise; "A Devil Fruit but I thought they were simple a myth!"

"No they exist," Luffy denied; "I should know I have eaten one after all, they are simply incredibly rare, especially in the Blue Seas, how Alvida could have found one is beyond me!"

"You have eaten one?" Nami questioned, thinking about the lightning Luffy could produce.

"Yes I have eaten the Goro Goro no Mi making me a Lightning Man!" Luffy explained grinning from ear to ear as he made lightning flash around him.

"Incredible!" Coby screamed in awe as he watched the sparks dance around his friends body; "You are so strong!"

"So this simple Fruit gives one such power!" Nami questioned as she peared at the deep red peach in slight disbelieve.

"Yes and No!" Luffy explained, his serious expression once more on his face; "Every Devil Fruit gives one a special ability, but the ability depends solely on the Fruit and no two Devil Fruit are the same. There exist three classes of Devil Fruits, first we have the Paramecia type, that gives its eater some kind of super human ability, like creating poison or even causing earthquakes, then there are the Zoan fruits that allow their user to transform themselves into a specific animal and then there are the rarest of the three types, the Logia Devil Fruits that allow their eater to control and even become one specific element."

"So you are Logia!" Nami concluded; "Incredible, the power to control lightning hidden in such a small Fruit!"

But before Luffy could even respond a loud boom startled them and the ship shook nearly causing Coby to fall down.

"What was that?" Coby stuttered nervously.

Luffy just laughed his carefree laugh; "It seems that the Marines have finally arrived!"

"What!" Coby and Nami screamed in unison, running through the room in panic.

"Shishishi let's get out of here!" Luffy laughed in joy; "Coby is there some kind of escape boat around here!"

"Stop!" Nami screamed as Coby started to drag them away; "I will not leave without my treasure!"

Despite the pink haired boy's desperate pleas to leave, the orangenette would not budge as she hurriedly shovelled everything she could reach into a sack she had miraculously produced. Only allowing herself to be dragged away, when she had gathered all the treasure she and her new partner could carry.

* * *

Luffy could only gawk at the escape boat Coby had proudly led them to, it had to be the biggest dingy he had ever seen, in fact it looked more like a small cargo ship than a dingy, with its large storage room under deck and the size that easily had enough space for four people to stay on it.

"How?" Nami wondered as she looked at sizable ship that was somehow swimming in water even though they were still inside of Alvida's ship.

"That is the Little Lady!" Coby explained proudly; "We are in the very rear of the ship, just below the Captain's quarters, and through a gate are connected to the ocean outside. Alvida's men used it to get provisions from the cities, since they obviously couldn't dock in the harbour with the main ship. This is actually the ship I accidently entered that led me into becoming Alvida's cabin boy."

* * *

Luffy smiled, savouring the spray that wetted his face as the cargo ship softly glided through the open sea, the chest with the Devil Fruit still safely clutched in his arms. He turned his head as he felt somebody sit down beside him and smiled as he saw his new navigator beside him, a small smile on her own face.

For quite some time they simply sat there in silence, enjoying they peaceful atmosphere around them after all the excitement of the Pirate attack as well as their escape from the Marine ship that thankfully failed to follow them, before he finally decided to ask the question that kept bothering him the whole time.

"Nami you are my Nakama, you know that right? No matter if you agree to join my crew or not, you are my precious person and I will always protect you!" At seeing her surprised expression he continued; "So please tell me! Why do you need 100.000.00 Beli, tell me what are you so afraid of?"

For what felt like hours his navigator kept silent and Luffy almost thought she would never talk, when she finally spoke up; "There is a man, his name is Arlong that came to my island and killed my mother. Arlong and his Pirate crew settled down on our island and tyrannised the peaceful villagers, demanding money and food from them, killing whoever rebelled against him!" Tears were now running freely down her cheeks as she hugged herself in despair; "But he made me an offer, 100.000.000 Beli and we would be free, 100.000.000 Beli and we would leave forever."

She showed him the tattoo on her left shoulder; "I became a member of his Pirate crew and drew countless maps for that monster, all so I could one day free my village. I need that money or all my suffering would be in vain!"

"Nami you are my Nakama" Luffy said kindly causing Nami look with her tear stricken faceat him, her eyes wide in wonder that such a Pirate existed; "shell I take care of him for you?"

"NO!" The girl shouted in horror; "Please Luffy you can't. Arlong is far too strong, he is a fishman and naturally much stronger than a human, even with your Devil Fruit you stand no chance and I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear if somebody else died, to many have already lost their lives to Arlong's tyranny and I won't allow you to throw away your life as well, especially now that I have nearly gathered all the money I need!"

Luffy was about to retort, to insure her that he could beat him, but her desperate, pleading eyes stopped him and instead he looked at the chest in his arms and he made a decision.

"Take it Nami!" He told the shocked girl as he handed her the chest; "I won't argue with you you have made your choice, but know that whatever you'll do I will help you, I will give you a choice!"

"A choice?" Nami asked as she stared at the Devil Fruit in wonder.

Luffy grinned from ear to ear; "You once told me you want to become stronger, this Devil Fruit can help you with that. I have no idea of what kind of power it would give you, it could be something as strong as my Goro Goro no Mi or something much, much weaker, we have no way to tell, but there is no useless power, in the right hand even the weakest Fruit could change the world. Or you could sell it, even an undetermined Akuma no Mi like that, is worth over 100.000.000 Beli."

"100.000.000 Beli for this fruit!" Nami stammered as she looked at the Akuma no Mi in her lap; "Incredible!"

"You can either sell it and hope that Arlong will keep his word or you can eat it and fight for your freedom and that of your village, no matter what you choose to do I will help you!" Luffy told her with a serious expression as he stood up and went to help Coby with steering the boat, before he turned his head and spoke once more; "The choice is yours!"

"Hey Coby!" The pink haired boy nearly jumped in fright as the grinning face of Luffy suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Luffy" He shouted in anger; "Don't scare me like that!"

"Shishishi"Luffy only laughed.

"By the way Coby!" Luffy asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly; "Who is that Zoro Alvida was speaking about?"

"What!" Coby yelled in disbelief; "You don't know who the Pirate Hunter Zoro is?"

"Nope!" Luffy said easily.

"Roronoa Zoro is a famous Bounty Hunter" Coby explained; "He is a terrifying monster, a demon in human cloth!"

"Shshishi a demon you say?" Luffy grinned.

"That's not a joking matter, Luffy!" Coby scolded; "He is such a bad man that from what I last heard the Marines in Shells Town are going to execute him!"

The teen only continued laughing loudly as he shouted to his navigator; "Hey Nami new course Shells Town!"

"What?" Nami questioned as she came closer, the chest with the Devil Fruit safely clutched to her chest; "Why are we going there?"

Luffy laughed even louder; "To find a new Nakama!"

* * *

Luffy took in the sights of Shells Town with an excited grin, Shells Town was quite a large town especially when one compared it with Foosha Village the only other village Luffy had ever seen.

'Beside that place.' Luffy thought darkly, his usual grin replaced by an angry scowl as he thought about the place that still haunted him, the worst day of his life. His mood worsened even more as he saw the Marine Base, proud and tall it stood there in the middle of the city, like some kind of fortress of protection.

"Luffy wait!" Coby shouted desperately as he tried to keep up with the agitated young Pirate; "You can't just storm into a Marine base like that, especially not considering what you are!"

Luffy only tilted his head in confusion; "But how should anybody know who or what I am? It's not like I have a Bounty or anything, I have just started my adventure, I am not yet wanted!"

"Oh" Coby muttered, embarrassed that he had forgotten that little fact, but quickly tried to warn his friend; "But still you need to be careful, I have heard that a Marine named Morgen is the Commander of this Base and Axe-Hand Morgan is a great Marine Hero. Luffy you have to be careful, please!"

Luffy wanted to laugh his Coby's concern of, but stopped as he felt that something was wrong. It was like the whole atmosphere of the market they stood at had changed. Where first there had been hustle and bustle from the traders and there buyers, there was now deathly silence and fear. A sheer overwhelming aura of fear suddenly seemed to cover the whole market as well as something else, something that made Luffy's blood boil, something that reminded him of his childhood and the times he had spent with his brothers in the Grey Terminal, despair. He suddenly whished Nami was with them so could protect her as well, but she had said something about finding some kind of maps and vanished.

"Coby we should get going!" The Pirate reminded Coby, carefully leading the scared boy away from the market; "You want to join the Marines after all!"

"But I am not ready, no, impossible, I am not ready, what should I say, what should I do?" The near hysteric boy worried, making Luffy laugh, happy that he had gotten him out of his shock; "And I heard that Captain Morgan is very strict with his subordinates, nobody disobeys him!"

"Then let's go find Zoro!" Luffy grinned even though his thoughts were much darker as a picture formed in his head that he didn't like at all, the fear and hopelessness of the villagers at the mere mention of Morgan's name as well as the strict obedience of his men didn't paint a pretty picture. His right fist involuntarily tightened in his anger, he couldn't wait to meet that man.

* * *

Finally after what felt like hours of searching, they had finally found Roronoa Zoro. He was bound tightly against a wooden pole in the middle of an empty field, but he was not alone. Standing right in front of him was a little girl.

"Oh god Luffy" Coby whispered, frightened for the girl; "He will kill her!"

Luffy simply ignored the boy as he slowly crept closer, hidden behind the wall that protected the Marine Base, hoping to hear what they were talking about.

"Go away girl!" The bound man told the girl harshly; "Before somebody sees you!"

"But I made those especially for you!" The girl cried holding out a big onigiri, only for it to be snatched out of her grasp by a blonde teen.

Coby could hardly belief his eyes as he watched the blonde haired teen that looked not much older than he take spit out the onigiri he had just stolen from the girl screaming and raving at the crying girl, all the while the two Marines that seemed to be guarding him just stood there stonily, doing nothing to help the girl.

Zoro struggled against his bindings in anger as he watched the little girl that had always been so kind to him crouched dawn onto the ground and tearfully tried to gather the remains of her hard work.

"But I tried to make it with all my heart!" The girl cried.

"You stupid brat!" The blonde raved; "Onigiri is made with salt, not with sugar!"

"But I thought it would taste better sweet!" The girl whimpered.

"You bastard!" Zoro growled as he continued to struggle against his bindings, how he hated his weakness, before this all started he could have easily toren those ropes apart and cut the boy down before he could even blink, but now after two weeks of hunger and stillness even the slightest movement hurt; "Leave the girl alone, she is just a kid!"

"Oh haven't you heard!" The boy taunted his prisoner as he held up a official Marine bulletin.

The green haired Bounty Hunter's struggling increased tenfold, ignoring the pain in his muscles as desperately tried to tear apart the ropes.

"By order of the Marine Captain Morgan everyone who helps a criminal will be executed!" Was written proudly on the bulletin.

The blonde laughed tauntingly as he saw the rage on the prisoner's face; "But I am a merciful person!" He laughed cruelly and pointed to one of his bodyguards; "You! Throw her out here."

"But sir she is just a kid!" The Marine protested desperately.

"How dare you defy me? Have you forgotten who I am? I am Helmeppo, son of the great Captain Morgan, to defy me means to defy my father. Throw the girl over the wall or I will have her killed" Helmeppo threatened the terrified Marine with a cruel glint in his eyes; "And you as well."

"Yes sir!" The terrified Marine saluted as he grabbed the screaming and struggling girl at her neck in one powerful motion he threw her high above the wall.

"Luffy we have to safe her!" Coby screamed fearful for the girl only to realise that there was nobody standing beside her, Luffy was gone.

Coby gasped as Luffy suddenly appeared in front of him again the crying girl safely in his arms; "Well Coby how about we bring this little one home?"

* * *

The future Pirate King was happily munching on a enormous steak as Ririka, a bar owner as well as the mother of the girl he had saved and recently learned was named Rika, brought him another one.

"Thank you again, Luffy-san, how can I ever repay you for saving my little girl!" Ririka deeply bowed to the teen that had saved his girl.

"Meh" Luffy shrugged, "It was nothing, just get me some more meat and we are even!"

Rika giggled at the silly behaviour of her saviour. 'He is nice,' she thought; 'just like Zoro-oniisan!'

"We wouldn't even have to safe you, had you just stayed away!" Coby demanded hotly, furiously looking at the girl; "What were you thinking? That man is a dangerous criminal about to be executed and you even broke the law to give him food!"

"But Zoro-niisan is a good man!" Rika told him hotly; "He just wanted to help me!"

"He is a wanted criminal!" Coby replied furiously, believing in the justice of the Marines that had been his life line through his torturous time in the crew of Alvida; "He is a wild animal, a monster that should be put away!"

"Coby enough!" Luffy ordered sharply, causing Coby to freeze as he saw the hard expression on the normally goofy and carefree teen. Coby had seen before that there was more than just the goofball to Luffy, but now that he saw him sitting there on his chair did he for the first time see the Captain within him. Gone was the goofy teen and instead there sat a Captain, tall and powerful with an aura around him that demanded respect and obedience and a hard look in his eyes that challenged him to disobey his order and for the first time Coby truely believed that Luffy could reach his goal to stand above all others as the pirate King; "You do not know Zoro, you have no right to judge him so harshly, allow Rika to explain."

Coby could only nod in submission and allowed the still crying girl to continue her story; "It was my entire fault. Zoro was just travelling through, when that mean Helmeppo came into Mama's bar with his pet wolf, he saved me from the wolf and now he is going to die!"

The girl broke out into hysteric sobs and buried herself deap into her mother's embrace, forcing the sad mother to explain to her guest what had happened while she tried to calm down her daughter.

One day Helmeppo had entered the bar and like usually had rudely demanded free food and even rum, despite him being underage, and he had brought with him his wild untamed pet wolf and when Rika, who brought the son of Morgan his food had accidently tripped and spilled the food on the wolf, it had attacked.

Had a passing swordsman, they had later learned was named Zoro, not intervened and cut down the wolf Rika would have most likely died.

Helmeppo furious at the loss of his pet had immediately demanded the execution of both Zoro and Rika, but once more the swordsman had saved Rika as he made a deal with Helmeppo, Zoro would be incarcerated for one month without water and bread, should the survive they both were free to go, but should he die, the girl was to share his fate.

All the while the Marines that guarded Helmeppo did nothing.

"But, but." Coby stuttered in tears, disbelief written on his face; "But they are Marines, they do what is right!"

"Coby" Luffy told the young Marine to be, sad about what he had to do; he had hoped that he could spare the child from the harsh truth of this world a little longer. The boy had already suffered enough at the hands of Pirates and to now take away his belief in the Marines that had been his lifeline in those dark times away as well seemed unnecessarily cruel to him, but it seemed that he had no choice; "The world is sadly not as black and white as that."

"What do you mean Luffy, Marines stand for justice, and they protect the innocent!" Coby explained in conviction.

"Those are the ideals the Marines were founded on, but you see all around you what those ideals can be perverted into!" Luffy explained.

"What do you mean?" Coby asked in confusion.

"There exists not a single person in the world Coby, that is purely good. Every living being caries both light as well as darkness within him and the same is with the Marines." He explained; "The Marines as a whole belief themselves to be righteous and just and those ideals can be easily perverted into what you see here. If you are righteous you are right and if you are right you are just. It is this mantra that breeds what the world knows as Absolute Justice!"

"Absolute Justice?" Coby had never before heard of that phrase.

"Yes Absolute Justice, my gramps told me about it once." Luffy told the boy that dreamed of becoming a marine; "It is a growing belief in the Marines, the belief that the justice of the Marines is absolute, there is no mercy and no place for those who belief different, it symbolises the sole right of the World Government and the Marine to be right and allows the destruction of all that dare to oppose them."

"And one day you too will have to make a choice Coby, whether to follow the principle of Absolute Justice or whether you will find your Personal Justice and fight what you belief in." Luffy told the gobsmacked kid sadly.

Luffy was an idiot.

Everyone who met the teen immediately agreed to that.

But everyone was wrong.

Luffy was goofy, spontaneous and carefree, he rushed into things without thinking or caring for the consequences of his actions. He could not concentrate on one thing and was easily distracted by another, but Luffy was not stupid.

The power of the Goro Goro no Mi was running through his veins and even when he was not in his elemental form, it influenced him. It increased his speed and reflexes. In fact it increased his bioelectricity to inhuman levels supercharging his senses to the absolute human limit. Touch, smell, hearing, taste and sight everything was increased and everything was processed.

His brain allowed him to gather and process it instantly, nothing was lost and nothing was missed.

It was simply too much, too much information, too much input, making Luffy spontaneous and hyperactive, nothing could hold his attention for long, he simply drifted around looking for something new to interest him, a new sight, a new person, a new adventure.

Luffy was not stupid, he was simply not completely there, his attention not on one thing but rather on everything.

* * *

The heavy silence in the bar was disturbed as suddenly the door was flung open and an agitated man stormed in.

"Ririka, Ririka, it is terrible!" The man gasped as he held his legs in order to catch his breath; "I just heard Helmeppo say that he is going to have him executed, in two hours Zoro will be execute!"

The people in the room froze in shock until the sobbing of Rika brought Luffy out of it.

Luffy was not stupid, he was simply not completely there, his attention not on one thing but rather on everything.

But whenever he focused on something, his whole being focused on it and he allowed nothing to stand in his way.

And Monkey D. Luffy decided that he would save Roronoa Zoro.

* * *

"Yo" The green haired prisoner would have jumped in surprise had he not been bound to a pole as he suddenly looked into the grinning face of a Straw-Hat wearing teen; "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet ya Roronoa Zoro!"

"Beat it brat!" Zoro scowled in annoyance, another stupid brat to gawk at him.

"That's not very nice you, you know?" The grin on the teen's face seemed to grow even larger as he playfully scolded him; "Especially since I saved your little friend for you!"

Zoro looked up in relief; "Rika is fine?"

"Sure"The stupid grin didn't seem to waver from his face as told Zoro the bad news; "But you are not, Helmeppo has decided to publicly execute you in about two hours!"

"What" Zoro shouted in surprise; "How dare the little weasel break his word!"

"Shishishi" Luffy chuckled in mirth; "Relax Zorro I will rescue you!"

"But that would make you a criminal!" Zoro denied, his honour as a swordsman could not allow another to suffer for his fate, he would rather die.

"Don't worry!" Luffy rubbed the back of his head; "I am a Pirate."

"A Pirate!" Zoro repeated incredulously, the grinning kid in front did not look like some kind of hardened criminal; "But still I can't leave without my swords, the blonde bastard took them with him."

"Okay than I will simply get your sword!" Luffy answered simply and turned to leave.

"Wait. Cut me loose first." Zoro shouted but Luffy ws already gone in a flash of blue.

* * *

In the yard in front of the tallest building of the 153rd Marine Branch an enormous statue of the base commander Captain Morgan was carefully pulled up by dozens of Marines.

Overseeing it all from a balcony was Axe-Hand Morgan himself and beside him stood his son Helmeppo.

Morgan was a tall man with a very impressive physique, short blonde hair and a big metallic jaw, but the one thing that everybody first noticed was the big axe that had replaced hand, the cause for his epithet. The famous coat of a high ranking Marine officer hung from his shoulder, the word Justice proudly written on it.

"Be careful you dumbasses!" Morgan raved at his terrified subordinates; "Not a single scratch or you will pay for it. Now lift it up in one final push, show the world my greatness!"

Inch by inch the statue of Captain that was nearly as tall as the main building of the Marine Base itself was lifted up and the Marine Captain turned towards his son.

"Helmeppo I heard that you were visiting the prisoner today and that somebody was breaking my law and helped him!" Morgan questioned.

"The girl?" Helmeppo stammered; "I took care of her!"

"Oh you killed her!" The Marine looked at his son in surprise; "Good job!"

"No, she is just a kid!" Helmeppo said, shocked at the mere idea of killing a child, even back at the bar two weeks before he had simply talked in anger, he could not have gone through with it; "I decided that she was not worth it and let her go."

"You decided?" He screamed and suddenly without any warning his left fist was buried in his son's face sending him flying into the fence of the balcony.

Helmeppo slowly shook himself out of his stupor as he looked at his furious father in shock. "You hit me, but you have never hit me!"

"You snivelling little bastard!" Morgan once more raised his left fist only to drop it in disgust at the sight in front of him, his son was cowering against the fence his arms raised to shield himself, he was a truly pitiful sight.

"You want to know why I have never hit you." Morgan taunted his pitiful son; "Because you are not even worth hitting, but it seems that I need to teach you a lesson, you don't decide anything, the one that is great is me; me, not you!"

A sudden boom tore Axe-Hand Morgan out of his raving and he turned his head just fast enough to see as his precious statue, the monument of his greatness, crumbled to dust in an explosion of blue lightning.

"Ops" Everyone stared in shock at the Straw-Hat wearing teen that had suddenly appeared on the fence of the balcony straight beside the Marine Captain a face splitting grin on his face; "that was a little too hard!"

* * *

"Oh there you are!" Luffy said in surprise as he looked at the boy that was cowering against the handrail he was sitting crouching on, gripped him by his shirt and before anybody could even react he was already gone, Helmeppo with him.

"Find him!" Morgan thundered furiously; "I want him dead!"

"Who are you?" Helmeppo weakly demanded afraid of the strange teen that dared to kidnap him from under his father's eyes. "Unhand me at once! Don't you know who I am, I am the son of Captain Morgan himself, to harm me means to anger my father. He will kill you!"

"Shut up!" The teen demanded dangerously making Helmeppo nod meekly; "Where are Zoro's swords!"

"In my room!" Helmeppo stuttered out at the angry scowl of the teen.

"And where is your damned room?" Luffy groaned.

"We just passed it!" The blonde admitted meekly.

Luffy gawked in disbelief as he started at the sight that greeted him after he had opened the door with the big sign of Helmeppo's room on it. Everything around him was pink, the walls, and the bed, even the curtains were. Deadpanned he looked at Helmeppo; "I was talking about your room, do you have a sister that is also named Helmeppo?"

"Shut up!" Helmeppo shouted his fear swallowed by his indignation; "That is my room!"

Luffy swallowed the urge to destroy the room with his lightning as he entered the pink hell. He found them, unceremonially leaning against a bright pink cupboard were three blades. Luffy carefully picked them up and marvelled at their sheer beauty, especially the pure white one.

"You can't take them!" The blonde demanded, finally gaining his courage back; "They belong to me now and dad will kill you for taking them!"

Luffy simply grinned carelessly and transformed into his elemental form, lightning crackled through the room and in a streak of lightning he passed straight through the wall, leaving behind a boy gawking in disbelief.

* * *

Roronoa Zoro was torn out of his musings as he suddenly felt his binding fall apart and his arms once more free. Curiously he turned around to see a young pink haired child with a small knife in his hand.

"Hurry we need to leave!" The boy said desperately.

"What are you doing here kid?" Zoro told the boy harshly; "You should not be here, it is much too dangerous and who the hell are you?"

"I'm Coby, a friend of Luffy!" Coby hurriedly explained; "I am here to help you and Luffy. Luffy told me to stay put, but I couldn't. It is my dream to become a Marine and I can't bear that the Marines execute an innocent man. Where is Luffy by the way?"

A grinning Luffy suddenly appeared in a streak of lighning in his hand three swords.

"Yo!"He greeted them with a wave.

"You said swords and I didn't know which belonged to you!" Luffy said with a shrug as he held the three swords out for him to tale; "So I simple brought them all!"

"They are all mine!" Zoro admitted as he carefully, almost tenderly took his swords; "I use Santoryu, I am a swordsman that uses three swords at once!"

Luffy watched with a thoughtful expression as the swordsman inspected his swords.

"My grandpa's second in command taught me some swordplay, you know!" Luffy admitted, earning himself a surprised look from the green haired man; "I dear friend of mine is a swordsman and I wanted to follow into his footsteps. The first thing he ever taught me was that a sword is only as strong as the will of its user! Tell me Roronoa Zoro why you draw your blade!"

A blood thirsty grin appeared on Zoro's face; "To be the strongest Swordsman in the World!"

"Shshisshi" Luffy laughed; "To be the strongest Swordsman in the World. I like it, but drives you to your goal, is it strength for strength's sake, do you desire to rule over others, what drives forward?"

Zoro looked surprised for a second as his thoughts returned to the past, to a blue haired girl lying dead at the bottom of a basement's stairs and of the promise he had once made to her.

'Kuina, I will become the strongest Swordsman in the World!' Zoro thought, before he answered the teen; "I once made a promise, a promise to a long dead friend. I owe it to her, to fulfil both our dream!"

My dream is it to become the Pirate King, to be the freest man in the world, to live a life without regret." Luffy said with a serious expression as he stared the swordsman deep into the eyes; "Roronoa Zoro join my crew and turn this world upside down with me!"

* * *

"Hold it right there!" Zoro's answer was interrupted as Marines flooded the area and aimed their riffles at them; "By order of Captain Morgan you are arrested!"

"Shishishi sounds like fun!" Luffy joked; "But sadly I don't have the time, so sorry!"

"Quiet scum!" The voice of Axe-Hand Morgan thundered as his impressive silhouette appeared behind his subordinates; "For your crimes against me, the great Captain Morgan, all of you are sentences to death." Morgan raised his Axe-Hand high into the air before he thrust it down and screamed; "Marines FIRE!"

Coby huddled up in fear as racket of the riffles started, but Zoro noted that Luffy stepped in front of them his usual carefree grin on his face and the grin did not fade, not even as one by one his body was hit by bullets.

'He died!' Zoro thought in shock as he saw the man that had helped him, that wanted him to join his crew, threw his life, his dream, away for him; 'He died for me!'

And Zoro felt tears spilling from his eyes, he only now realised that he had wanted to join the teen, he didn't know what it was, but something about him had spoken to him, had made him want to join him, had made him yearn to follow him.

The conviction and compassion of the Pirate had actually made him want to call him Sencho and now the chance was missed.

Then he noted that something was wrong; there was no blood.

* * *

"Shishishi" Laugher seemed to come from the body of Monkey D. Luffy and it suddenly changed. His flesh transformed into lightning and one by one the bullets were ejected from his body in the form of molten globs as the sheer heat of the lightning melted them. "Sorry but bullets don't work on me!"

"What?" Stammered Morgan as he looked at the living bolt of lightning that was Luffy; "What are you?"

"Me?" Luffy smirked; "I am the man that will become the next Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy and I am a Lightning Man."

"A Lightning Man? An Akuma no Mi!" Morgan realised in fear; "A Devil Fruit user here? Man hurry and kill him. Kill him now!"

"Too late!" Grinned Luffy as the lightning seemed to grow in intensity making the air around him shimmer in heat; " **Nagashi(Current)** "

Zoro watched in fascination as lightning travelled from one Marine to the next and they fell to the ground like flies, leaving Morgan standing alone.

"You bastard, you think you can defeat me?" Axe-Hand Morgan charged at the teen who had just taken out his man in blind rage, who was that brat that dared to defy him, he would show him who the great one here was; "I will kill you!"

Luffy watched in amusement as the right arm of Morgan drew closer, axe glimmering ominously in the sun, when suddenly two swords intercepted the attack.

Sweat purred down his face as Roronoa Zoro pushed back the attack of the Marine Captain, forcing him to jump back.

"I am sorry for interfering Captain!" Zoro said; "But please allow me to take care of him for you."

A grin of pure joy appeared on Luffy's face, before he saw his new Nakama stumble, he looked ready to faint on his feet; "Are you sure maybe you should rest, I can take care of it, no worry!"

"No!" Zoro objected grimly; "I can still take care of him. Please Captain, allow me to show you the strength of my conviction!"

"Shishishi!" The will of his swordsman impressed Luffy deeply, he could clearly see that weeks of starvation and inactivity had left a mark on his body, but still he refused to give in. He liked that, he liked that a lot; "Fine by me!"

"You dare belittle me? Me! I am the great Captain Morgan, I will squash you like a bug prisoner and then I will kill your wannabe Pirate of a Captain as well. I allow no one to stand in my way!" Morgan screamed as he rushed at the infuriating swordsman, swinging his axe down in one mighty blow, earth shattered and the bodies of his subordinates were flung around, but there was no sight of the green haired bastard.

He turned around rapidly, searching for his escaped prey. There he was, slowly pulling out his snow white blade and putting it into his mouth. He could just here a whisper of **Onigiri(Demon Slash)** and then he was gone. For a second he just stood there, staring dumbly at the place where his foe had just vanished from and then suddenly he felt it; pain, overwhelming pain as blood shot out from a wound that had mysteriously appeared on his chest like a geyser. Then he felt nothing as blackness surrounded him and the Great Captain Morgan fell.

* * *

"Finally I am full!" Luffy shouted in contentment as he rubbed his bulging stomach, the table around him littered with the remains of his meal, oblivious to the disbelieving stares of those around him.

"How?" His new Nakama questioned, looking at his captain, who had just cleaned out the bar, in shock; "How could you have eaten so much, I mean you have eaten more than me and I haven't eaten in weeks for god's sake?"

"But I was hungry!" The Pirate Captain whined; "And it tasted so delicious! Ririka's cooking is great!"

Ririka laughed at the compliment as she brought another round of drinks. Her bar was filled with people, everyone was laughing and celebrating, the defeat of the tyrant Morgan had spread through the Town like wild fire and people had flooded the bar to celebrate and to thank the two Pirate's that had freed them.

There was nothing left of the depressive atmosphere that had plagued them for so long and for the first time in years the villagers laughed freely, when suddenly the door of the bar was violently pushed open an in stormed a furious orange haired girl, the steaming girl headed straight for their oblivious saviour, who only grinned at her sudden appearance and happily shouted; "Hey Nami, where have you been?"

"Don't you 'Hey Nami' me, you idiot!" Nami screeched angrily; "What were you thinking?"

Luffy could only turn his head in confusion. "What did I do?"

"What did you do? Didn't you listen to me?" Zoro watched in fascinating as the orange haired girl bonked his Captain on the head and shook him violently, wondering how she managed to hit him, when at the courtyard bullet's passed through him; "I told you that I was going to steal a map from the Marines and what did you do, you made them chase you through the very building I was trying to sneak into! I was nearly caught; twice!"

"Oh that was where you wanted to go!" Luffy realised sheepishly, trying to control his body's reaction. Forcing the lightning, that was trying to break out of his body, down; "Did you find the map?"

"No!" Nami told him through gritted teeth as she remembered how she after she had painstakingly cracked Captain Morgan's safe had found not the map of the Grand Line that she had desired for so long, but rather a simple message from a Pirate named Buggy the Clown, who had proudly proclaimed that he had stolen the map; "Buggy the Clown had already stolen it!"

"Buggy" Luffy asked in surprise as he remembered the stories Shanks had told him about his former crewmate and friend, excited to meet the man behind the stories, but before he could say anymore the door was once more pushed open and this time Marines stormed in.

* * *

"Monkey D. Luffy" The Marine Lieutenant that stopped in front of the confused Luffy as his man stood behind him. The Marine fixed the Pirate with a serious stare before he suddenly bowed deeply to the perplexed black haired teen; "Thank you very much from freeing us from Morgan!"

"Sure!" Luffy grinned.

"But" The Marine said forcefully; "Even though we are grateful for what you have done, we must ask you to leave!"

The protests of the villagers were thunderous as they yelled and shouted in outrage as the Marines that had helped tyrannise them tried to throw out the heroes that freed them, some of them even went so far as to brandish their bottles like some makeshift weapon and threatened the Marines with them.

"We are truly sorry, but as you said yourself you are Pirates and as Marines we cannot allow you to stay. We will not report you to our superiors, but must ask to leave or we will have to force you out!"

Suddenly the room grew deathly quiet and the only sound that was left, was the soft humming of electricity as the air grew heavy with static and the hairs on everyone's back straightened. It was like the very air was crackling with power as the now sweating Marine Lieutenant looked into the black eyes of the Pirate he had just threatened and every fibber of his being screamed for him to leave, to run as far away from the teen as he possibly could, that he stood in front of a being he could never match. And suddenly the pressure was gone and Luffy simply smiled his goofy grin; "Sure, Nami Zoro lets go, shishishi!"

"Are you not taking the kid with you?" The Lieutnant asked in surprise as he pointed at the tearful Coby.

"Oh him!" Luffy said in mock surprise as he carelessly shrugged; "He doesn't belong to me, he is just some brat I found on the sea. He was muttering about becoming a Marine or something. So take care of him!"

"So you want to become a Marine, boy!" The Lieutenant examined the nervous Coby.

"Lieutenant you can't be serious?" One of the Marine's shouted; "You know the reports and he matches the description of one of the Alvida Pirates, he could be a spy!"

"I am not a spy!" Coby shouted, close to tears at the thought of his dream being so close, but yet so far away; "I want to become a great Marine!"

"A great Marine huh!" The Lieutenant chuckled as he handed him his own blue handkerchief, the insignia of the Marines proudly sown into it; "Very well I will allow you entry into the Marines, but know this, you will have to prove your loyality, not everyone will be as accepting as me!"

Coby whooped in joy at the news and said a tearful goodbye to Luffy; "You will see Luffy, I will become a great Marine and then we will meet again!"

Luffy only laughed cheerfully as he and his crewmates made their way to **The Little Lady** , the cheers and thanks of the villagers following them.

* * *

The navigator watched in confusion as her friend dragged her and some strange green haired man along with him; 'What is going on?'

"Who are you?" She finally asked the man that had suddenly joined their little group while she was busy with her raid as they made their way out of the harbour, a soft breeze continuously pushing them away from Shell Town.

"That's my new First Mate!" Luffy introduced cheerfully; "His name is Zorro!"

"Zorro" Nami stuttered as it suddenly clicked, the green hair and the three swords, she knew exactly who that was; "The Pirate Hunter? He has agreed to join you? But why?"

Zorro only shrugged carelessly at the strange girl, who his new Captain had called Nami, making her scowl angrily; "Oh great another one! Why am I surrounded by careless idiots?"

Zorro scowled at the girl that had just insulted him, while Luffy only laughed in joy.

'Another Nakama' He thought in ecstasy as he looked at his two quarrelling friends, one an official and the other an unofficial member of his crew, his family; 'We will have so much fun!'

The quarrelling of Zorro and Nami was interrupted as they were met with a sight that they never believed possible, not even in their wildest dreams.

* * *

There on a cliff beside Shell Town stood Coby and behind him the Marines, their right hand touching their forehead in a salute, a sign of respect as they bid the Pirate Crew adieu.

Coby cried as **The Little Lady** slowly sailed towards the horizon, his tears were both, tears of pain as his friends sailed away into an unknown future, would he ever see them again and if he did would they meet as friends or as enemies, but also tears of joy as he clutched the scarf with the insignia of the Marines against his heart, he had done it it, he was going to be a Marine and Luffy was going to be a Pirate, like they had both dreamed.

'We will meet again, my friend!' He thought with confiction; 'I will become a great Marine and you will become a great Pirate and then we will meet again!'

A hand on his shoulder tore Coby out of his musings and he looked up in the smilling face of his new commanding officer as he spoke to him. "You have chosen great friends Coby, that boy will go far even though he has chosen to become a Pirate."

"Men" He now turned towards his men, who watched the Pirates sail away, uncertain how they should feel about them. As Marines they had sworn to defeat Pirates and as such they were their enemies, but they had also sworn to protect the innocent and it was those very Pirates that had helped them fulfil their duty; "We have paid our respect to our saviours as is right, but as Marines I cannot allow such behaviour towards Pirates. As punishment our rations will consist of water and bread for the next month. Understood?"

"Yes!" The Marines cheered as the Pirates disappeared on the horizon.

* * *

"Shishishi" Luffy laughed as his crew mates watched in disbelief; "Now let's go!"

"Captain, where are we going?" Zorro questioned in confusion, still precessing the very thought that a Marine would salute a Pirate, and their navigator nodded her head in agreement.

"To Buggy the Clown of course!" Luffy grinned like it was the most obvious thing in the world; "We have a map to steal!"

* * *

 ** _And done!_**

 ** _First before anyone lynches me, let me say that Luffy will not be some kind of genies or god help a scientist of any kind._**

 ** _My Luffy has the ability to take in his surroundings very quickly, but he is still limited both by his lack of education and sheltered upbringing, for heaven's sake I don't think that Cannon Luffy even knows what sex is, I mean he didn't even question who is father was until Garp told him. But also by his ability itself as it more or less gives him ADHS._**

 ** _It is simply my spin of oblivious idiot we all love._**

 ** _Cannon Luffy after all has his moments of brightness and whenever he sets his mind on something he follows it with a single mindedness that has no equal._**

 ** _My Luffy is the same._**

 ** _But I cannot promise that that will stay the same as his lack of knowledge is erased and he learn how to properly focus, but that will take time, lots and lots of time :)_**

 ** _The next update will sadly take some time as I am currently quite busy with both work as well as my entrance exam for teaching school, so please have patience._**


End file.
